Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Thai Nail Polish Review (And More)

I mentioned a few times that I recently went away on vacation to Thailand. I wanted to share a little more about it since that's mostly what's been messing up my posting schedule lately and I've gotta have something to show for it right? Of course while I was there among all the other site seeing I had to check out the local polish offerings. These were purchased from a little stand at the Bandu day market. Imagine a flea market type setting. In between booths selling live fish, vegetables, housewares, fireworks and anything else imaginable I found this little booth with a glorious assortment of nail polish, hair accessories and makeup. I picked these polishes up for 15 baht each which is about 50 cents each American.
 

The booth had these two brands, See San and Kelly mixed in together and the bottles look really similar. I wonder if they're related to each other in some way. I attempted to do a bit of research about these brands once I got home, but all my Googling was pretty fruitless so I'll give my own review for anyone who might be curious about the quality of Thai polish.
 
Red- (I'm calling her Tomato) was featured in this post. I was really happy with the formula on this one. The brush was good and easy to work with. I got almost full coverage in one coat, but used two for good measure. It was also pretty easy to remove without any staining.
 
Bright yellow- I'm also mostly pleased with this color. It was surprisingly opaque in two coats and it's just as bright as it looks in the bottle. Watch out for a post later this week to see it in action. The brush was a bit mop-ish and hard to control, but considering everything else it's a pretty minor complaint.
 
Minty green- this was the worst of the three I've tried so far. You can check it out in the picture below. The first coat was thin and really patchy. The second coat was seriously streaky and I was starting to think there was no hope for this one. The third coat was magic. It covered up all the streaks and left the manicure looking flawless. I stamped it with Bundle Monster plate BM-320 and finished up with a coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri.
 
I haven't had time to try the last three, but keep an eye out for future posts featuring my Thailand finds.
 
 
Check out a lot more of my rambling and pictures after the jump.

 

Now a bit more about why I was in Thailand. A couple of year ago my parents decided that retirement sounded boring and going to Thailand to work with an orphanage sounded like a great adventure. They did a bit of traveling around the country and a little more than a year ago they landed at their new home and have been working with a great couple who run the home and these amazing kids ever since. I love traveling and it was a great opportunity for the husband and I to go visit and see life outside America.
 
My dad has been talking my blog up to all the girls since he got there. I think he was even more excited than they were for me to bring some polishes and do manicures during our visit. The girls were a bit shy so it was hard to get my first volunteer, but once one came up I quickly got a few more takers. The owner of the minty manicure above is Chalee. All the kids know at least a little English so it was really fun hanging out and chatting with them a bit. I found out that their schools have very strict dress codes and they can't wear nail polish. I painted their nails on Friday night so they could have it on for a couple days before taking it off again Sunday night.
 
Below is the mani I did for Peam. She chose an unnamed orange cream I had brought and Bundle Monster plate BM-306.


 Next we have Gonjana. She came up with the idea to do black with stamping and dots and it turned out super cute. This is two coats of Wet n Wild, Black Crème. I used Wet n Wild, French White Crème to stamp using plate BM-308.  I made the dots with the white creme and then re-dotted over them with the colors for extra brightness against the black using Thai Tomato and Island Girl, Aloha Paradise.


Chalee loved having her nails done so much she asked if I could do them again the next night. This time she picked a white base (Wet n Wild, French White Crème) and Bundle Monster plate BM-303. I used the same red and teal as above for the kisses.


Here's a group shot of some of the younger kids. On Fridays the school dress code requires them to wear the traditional costume of the tribe that their family originated from. I couldn't resist getting a picture of the younger ones all dressed up. Some of the outfits are very elaborate and all the stitching is done by hand. I can't imagine how long some of these would take to embroider. I fell in love with the country, this home and these kids so fast. The home is really unique because none of these kids are up for adoption. The goal is to provide a safe and loving place for them to grow up and to teach them skills that will help them get good jobs once they get older. If you'd like to see more pictures of their daily life in Thailand you can visit their Facebook page.


It's a long post this time! I hope you enjoyed hearing about my Thai nail polish adventures and a few little extra bits about my trip.


2 comments:

  1. Your parents are so cool!!! Also what you did for them is really cool and this whole post is just, y'know, really cool. D: My words are gone apparently, I'm sorry.

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    1. Thanks! I think my parents are pretty amazing too. I'm so glad you enjoyed the post.

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